By Matt Le CrenNAPERVILLE – Naperville North seniors Shaina Dudas, Katelynn Buescher and Alyssa Siebers will achieve rare milestones when they step on the field at Memorial Stadium for Saturday’s championship game of the Naperville Invitational.

The trio will play in the prestigious tournament’s final for the fourth time after each played starring roles in the Huskies 1-0 victory over defending tournament champion and reigning state champion Barrington in Friday night’s semifinals.

Dudas scored the game’s only goal with a fantastic shot five minutes in, Illinois recruit Buescher dominated the midfield and Siebers led a backline that limited the Fillies to only five shots and posted Naperville North’s 10th shutout of the season and 49th since the start of the 2016 campaign.

“A fantastic team effort,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “The kids were fantastic tonight. We jumped all over them from the start.

“Shaina Dudas had her best game, hands down, all year and scored a great goal and also generated so many chances for us.

“Our backline lately has been about as good as we’ve had here, and we’ve had some great ones. ‘Bish’ just holds it down in the middle. Toughest kid on the field every single game, does all the dirty work and has found a way to score 10 goals.”

The Huskies (11-2-3), ranked fifth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, will take on no. 2 New Trier (11-0-2), which edged fourth-rated Neuqua Valley 2-1 on penalty kicks Friday, in the final. Naperville North will attempt to win its third Naperville Invitational championship in the past four years and fourth in the last six.

“I think the most important thing for us was to come out really hard in the first 5-10 minutes and set the tone, show them that we are here to win,” Buescher said. “You could tell the energy on the field and the way people were playing that we wanted to win.”

That was apparent early as the Huskies scored on their first shot. It came with 34:50 to go in the first half and began with a corner kick from the right side.

Senior Megan Benmore got the ball in the middle of the box but had the ball blocked by a defender. It squirted free to Dudas, who was about 15 yards in front of the left post.

The Illinois State-bound Dudas initially had her back to the goal but turned and blindly fired a left-footed rocket that went inside the right post.

“I think (Benmore) tried to pass it,” Dudas said. “It kind of deflected off a person, and I had my back turned.

“People were telling me to turn, so I basically just turned around and shot it in the corner.

"I couldn’t really see (the play), because I was on the ground. But it went in, so that’s all that matters.”

Dudas, of course, had no way of knowing that would turn out to be the game-winner but she felt thrilled to be able to score on such a big stage against the Fillies (10-2-2), who beat the Huskies in last year’s tournament final.

“It felt really awesome,” Dudas said. “We wanted to come out and score early, because we didn’t want to let them hang around. So it was really exciting to get a goal at the very beginning to show them what we are made of.”

The Huskies appear to be made of sterner stuff than they were in the season opener, in which they tied Barrington 2-2. Naperville North has struggled at times offensively this season but has figured some things out lately.

“Our attack has really gotten strong,” Buescher said. “Hannah Martin, Megan Benmore and Shaina Dudas are so much more persistent in getting the ball and that just made it so much easier for our backline and midfield, because we have them holding the ball for us.

“So then we’re able to generate these opportunities and get ourselves up (the field). I think that’s really important in us getting better.”

While the Huskies still don’t have someone who could be termed an elite striker, they are getting more production from the forward line, especially Martin and Dudas, who have become more consistently dangerous.

Those two had ample opportunities to extend the lead in the second half. Martin drilled a shot into the left post with 7:20 remaining and Leah Shumate, who earlier had a header hit the crossbar, headed the rebound over the net.

Barrington goalie Samantha Schmitz saved four other shots, including a 20-yard rocket off the foot of Buescher three minutes after intermission.

“We’re starting to get a little more confident,” Buescher said. “In this setting, we’re able to be successful and people are (gaining) from that.”

What a difference a couple of weeks make. A team that was shut out three times in a span of five games earlier this month now has won five-straight games, four by shutout, and allowed only two goals in its previous nine matches.

“I think we move people around in different spots and people are finding connections where there wasn’t necessarily a connection before. Our center backs are really doing a great job finding our center forward, so that’s getting us out faster and helping our attack.”

At the same time, Barrington’s attack struggled, though the Fillies nearly tied the game with a craftily designed set play with 13 minutes to go in the first half.

Madi Rosen sent a free kick from 33 yards on the left wing across the field, where the ball was played into the middle of the box to senior Michayla Herr. The Wisconsin recruit hit a one-timer that beat Naperville North goalie Maddie Hausmann but struck the left post.

Hausmann stopped all four of the Fillies’ other shots and four second-half corner kicks went for naught for Barrington, which was blanked for just the second time this spring.

Now the Huskies get to play in a matchup that features the squads that have won five of the last six state titles.

“I told the group I feel different from two weeks ago,” Goletz said. “I feel like the group has bought in.

“I feel like they’re ready to battle. It took us a little bit to get going even though our record was pretty good throughout that process, but I couldn’t be more proud for this senior class to play in the invitational championship.

“Katelynn, Shaina, Alyssa and Jess (Siebers), those girls have been just absolute rocks for us and to be back here again with a chance to play New Trier, which is such a great program, we’re really looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.”